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Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Composition Break Down: Wargamer Taxonomical Analysis

I am a sucker for these things.
The two dozen questions, the ranking priorities, the subatomic shuffling to sift through your remains.

I usually find these things at the blogs of Angry Lurker, Ray-the-butt-of-Fran's-Jokes, or Big Lee.
This time it's Big Lee's again.

So the question is, given that you are some type of gaming geek of one breed or another, but where do you fall within the multitude of specimens on this savanna? There are a lot of beasts out there, which are you?

For the 100% of your gaming-related geekness, how does it break down?

Immersion - You really get into the fluff/universe/world/history of the game you play.

Social - relationships are what's important. You look forward as much to the dinner/drink afterwards as you do to the gaming itself.

Showcasing/Modelling - You really like to show your work and see the work of others. Modelling and painting are what give you the most energy.

Strategy - You like to read forums, listen to podcasts, work on lists, etc to improve your game. You like the mechanics of how a game works.

Competition - you like testing your play style and abilities against others to come out on top. Or, to test your strategies against the best.

So let's Analyze this and see what parts I'm made of...

So from those options, I think I can be divided into these parts:

Immersion: 25%
My second largest portion. I really enjoy this aspect. When I come up with an idea, I flesh it out in my mind.I match or convert miniatures to fit the theme I imagine. I enjoy it more when I come up with the background for the project myself, rather than rely on something already established by the game.

Though another close favorite is the background for the Starship of the PCP- I had great fun writing that silly stuff. I guess I have got a lot of Immersion enjoyment from the Empire of the Dead campaign.

Social: 15%
I do enjoy this aspect,maybe more than the 15% would suggest, but my poor math skills wants me to total up to 180% or so, so I have to make a cut somewhere. Besides, even if no social opportunity existed for this stuff I'd still pursue the other aspects and enjoy it.

Showcasing/Modeling: 50%
By far the biggest portion. I love it. I need the act of creating. If I had god-like powers I'd be making new universes daily.

Strategy: 7%
This was higher in years past. It is still fun, but it's not a priority.

Competition: 3%
Too stressful. When I play I'll be trying to win and trying to out-think & outguess my opponent, but it isn't the motivation or purpose of the hobby for me.

3
comments:

I am similar to yourself, but the categories don't really match real life for me. There's nowhere to indicate casual gaming with friends, nor is there a way to indicate how much of a collector you are.

This started as a way to explore the motivations of mature players of modern Warhammer specifically. Having said that though, casual gaming with friends falls neatly into the social category and you could crowbar collecting into the showcasing category.